Loading or ditching apparatus.



PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

LE GRAND 'KYNIFFEN. LOADING OR DITGHING APPARATUS;

APPLICATION FILED I'EB. 3,1908.

3 smarts-Bursar 1;

eases;

. item/l I No. 894,016. I PATENTED JULY 21, 1908. LE GRAND KNIFPEN.

LOADING OR DITGHING APPARATUS.

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% le Grand wa PATENTED JULY 21 LE GRAND KNIFFBN. LOADING OR DITGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.3.1908.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LE GRAND KNIFFEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LOADING OR DITCHING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LE GRAND KNIFFEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Sthtc fif Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loading or Ditching Apparatus, of which the following is a speclfication.

This invention relates to improvements in a loading or ditching apparatus to be used for loading wagon-boxes and other elevated receptacles from the ground or usually from a point lower than the receptacle to be loaded with manure, ore, earth, gravel, sand, grain.

and the like, or which may be used for excavating or ditching, in which operation the removed earth may be loaded into a wagon or other receptacle or discharged on either or both sides of the line of the ditch or exca- Vation; and it consists in certain pecularities of the construction novel arrangement, and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and speciiically claimed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above-named character, which shall be of such construction that it may be self-propelled and selfoperative, and shall be strong, durable, efficient in operation, and which may be made and equipped in such a manner as to provide a hopper or receptacle at the upper end of the inclined chute of the apparatus for the reception and retention of a quantity of material to be loaded into a wagon or other receptacle while the wagon or receptacle is not under the u per portion of the inclined chute, thus obviating the necessity of stopping the operation of the loading apparatus while the wagons are away.

A further object of the invention is to provide means at the upper end of the chute of the apparatus to cause the material removed by the carrier of the apparatus to be discharged to either or both sides thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be disclosed in the subjoined description and explanation.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains, to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings,

in which Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a loading or ditching apparatus embodying the invention, and illustrating by dotted lines Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 3, 1908.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Serial No. 414,017.

one of the ositions to which the inclinable chute may e adjusted, and also showing the carrier for the material to be loaded on the upper portion of the chute Fig. 2 is a longitu inal sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, showing the carrier in the position it will assume when it shall have been tilted or dumped of its load; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the truck, showing the propelling and operating mechanism for the apparatus mounted on the platform thereof; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the ap aratus, showing the carrier for the materia to be loaded in the act of traveling up the chute and near its upper end, and illustrating by dotted lines a por tion of the bail of the carrier at the lower part of the chute, and also illustrating by dotted lines the drum and clutch mechanism for operating the carrier; Fig. 5 is an end view of the upper end of the chute, showing by continuous ines the ho per or rece tacle for the material to be loa ed and by otted lines to which said parts may be adjusted in order to deflect the material to either side of the apparatus Fig. 6 is an end View of the upper portion of the chute, showing the members of the ho per arranged to deflect the material to botfi sides of the apparatus; Fig. 7 is a detached perspective view of one of the members of the hop er and Fig. 8 is a View in side elevation o' a portion of the chute, showing a modification in the construction of the truck and the manner of mounting the chute thereon.

Like numerals of reference, refer to correerably mounted on its front end beneath the front axle 11 of the truck by means of hangers 12 and at its rear end in any suitable manner on the rear axle 13, but preferably above the same. The front portion of the plat form 10 may be rovided with a seat 14 and a foot-board 15 or the use of the operator when pro elling the machine. Extending upwardly rom the front portion of each'side of the platform 10 and usually forming a part of the hangers 12 is an upright 16, on the upper portion of each of which is pivotally secured an inclinable chute which comprises a bottom or floor 17 and two sides 18 which we tend upwardly from its edges and which sides project some distance beyond the front or upper end of the floor 17 so as to provide. an

opening 19 through which the carrier may dump its load. The upper or front ends of the sides 18 of the chute are connected by a cross-piece 20, which serve to brace them at said ends and also serve the purpose of su porting certain pulleys, as will be present y explained. its sides and near its middle with a pendent bracket 21, each of which has in its lower portion a segmental slot 22 to receive a horizontal projection or bolt 23, on the outer portion of each of which is screwed a nut 24 to be used for rigidly holding the chute at the desired inclination on the supports 16, for it will be understood that by loosening the nuts 24 on the bolts 23 the chute may be tilted to the desired position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, when by tightening the nuts 24 it will be firmly held in such position.' Pivotally secured to the lower part of each of the sides 18 of the chute and to the lower portion of the cross-piece 20 at each of its ends, by means of eyes 25 and links 26, or otherwise hinged thereto, is a deflector or hopper member, which as a whole is indicated by the reference numeral 27, and each is preferably of the construction and shape shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 7 of the drawings, that is to-say, comprises a body portion 28 which is preferably curved in cross-section and narrower at its rear end than the front end thereof, as is clearly shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings. The

body portion of each of the members 27 has at each of its ends an inwardly extending flange 29, or end-piece, which, when the members are in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 5 of the drawings, will close theends of said members and form a hopper or rece tacle of sufficient size to hold several of t e carrier charges or loads, which may be dumped into the receptacle. Each of the flanges or end-pieces 29 at the front of the members 27 is provided with a small grooved pulley 30, around which is passed a cord or cable 31, which has one of its ends secured to one of the flanges 29 as at 32 and also passes over a pulley 33 on the cross-piece 20 at the front end of the chute. These pulleys and the cord are employed to bring the lower ed es of the members 27 together, and to ho d them in such osition when it is desired to form a rece tac e under the front end of the chute, as sliown in Figs. 1 and 2 and by continuous lines in Fig. 5 of the drawings, for it is apparent that, normally, the members 27 will occupy the positions indicated by the dotted lines in the upper portion of the lastnamed figure, and that by drawing them together by means of the cord 31 they may be so held by securing the. cord to a suitable fastener. The links 26 are made so as to detachably engage the eyes 25, and the lower portion of each of the flanges 29 or end-pieces of the members 27 is provided with an eye The chute is provided at each of l 25 to receive a detachable link 26 to be used for. connecting the lower edges of the members 27 together, so that the material discharged from the carrier through the opening 19 in the chute may be discharged to either or both sides of the chute. In Fig. 5, the members 27 are shown by continuous lines in the positions they will occupy when forming a hopper or receptacle to receive and retain the material, and by the lower dotted lines the positions they will occupy when ar ranged to discharge the material to either side of the chute, and in this last-named arrangement it will be understood that the upper edge of one of the members 26 may be disengaged from the chute by removing the links 26 from the eyes 25 on the chute, when by connecting the eyes 25 at the lower edges of the members 27 by means of links 26 the member 27, which has been detached at its upper edge from the chute, will occupy one of the positions shown by dotted lines at 34, in which position it may be held by means of rods 35 which have hooks at each of their ends engaging the eyes 25 on the chute and member 27 which has been detached at its upper edge. In this way, it is apparent that the two members 27 will constitute a de flector to guide the material to either side of the chute when the same shall have been dumped by means of the carrier through the opening 19 in the upper part of the chute. In order to discharge the material on both sides of the chute, the members 27 are sup ported by means of rods 36 having hooks at each of their ends to engage the eyes 25 on the chute' and members, and by means of rods 37 which have hooks on each of their ends to engage the links 26 and eyes 38, one of which is located on the middle lower portion of the cross-piece 20 and on the middle of the upper portion of the floor of the chute, as will bereadily understood by reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings. 7

Mounted on the platform 10 of the truck is an engine 39, which may be of the ordinary or any preferred kind, but preferably of a hydrocarbon type, which is used for propelling the machine and for operating the carrier 40 which scoops up or gathers the material and conveys it up the chute and dumps it at the front or upper end thereof. On one end of the engine-shaft 41 is mounted a balancewheel 42 and on the other end of said shaft is mounted a sprocket-wheel 43, which is geared to a sprocket-wheel 44 mounted on a shaft 45 by means of a sprocket-chain 46, which latter shaft is preferably mounted by means ofand is provided with a sleeve 51 to which one end of a lever 52 is connected. This lever is '50, which is slidably mounted on the shaft 45 i fulcrumed as at 53 and has its other end connected to the lower end of a vertical lever 54 which is fulcrumed on an upright Standard 55 secured to the platformlO near the drum. Transversely journaled in suitable bearings 56 in front of the engine 39 is a shaft 57, which has mounted thereon near one of its ends a sprocket-wheel 58 which is geared to a sprocket-wheel 59 on the engine-shaft by means of a sprocket-chain 60. On the opposite end of the shaft 57 from that on which the sprocketwheel 58 is mounted is a bev eled gear 61 which meshes with a beveled gear 62 on a shaft 63, which is supported by means of suitable bearings 64 longitudinally on the platform 10, and has near its other end a beveled gear 65 to mesh alternately with beveled gears 66 and 67 which are mounted on a sleeve 68 which is mounted on the front axle 11 so as to turn therewith, yet in such a manner that it may be slid thereon. The sleeve 68 is provided near one of its endswith an annular groove 69 in which is loosely fitted a collar 70 to which one end of a lever 71 is secured, which lever is fulcrumed on a suitable support 72 near the seat 14 for the operator. Another lever 7 3 for controlling the operation of the engine, and having a connection 74 with the controlling mechanism thereof, is also fulcrumed on or near the seat 14 for the operator.

The fork or carrier, which is designated as a whole by the reference numeral 40, may be made of any suitable form, such as a scoop, scraper or fork for gathering and holding the manure or material, but for the purpose of handling barn-yard manure which contains straw, hay and other fibrous material, I prefer to construct it with tines 75, as shown in the drawings, but I desire it understood that I may substitute a scoop, shovel or scraper therefor without departing from the spirit of the invention. The fork or carrier consists of a 1naterialsupporting body-portion which comprises two spaced-apart upwardly and rearwardly extending side members 76, each of which has a handle 77 which project rearwardly and upwardly and are for the use of the operator in guiding the carrier when the same is being loaded or filled. Connecting the members 7 6 is a cross-head 78 to which the tines are secured and which project forwardly therefrom. Pivotally secured to the members 76 are the rear ends of the arms 79 of the bail of the carrier, which is preferably curved as shown. The said arms are extended upwardly from their pivots and then forwardly to near the front ends of the tines. The rear portions or arms 79 of the bail are provided with lateral projections 80, which gire adapted to extend over the sides 18 of the chute, and in the upward progress of the carrier to engage levers 81 which. are pivotally secured to the sides 18 of the chute near the upper end of the floor 17 thereof' Each of the levers 81 is preferably provided with a series of notches 82 on its rear surface near its upper end to receive the projections on the hail of the carrier, and each of said levers may be actuated by means of a spring 83 secured at one of its ends to the side of the chute and at its other end to said lever. Secured to the middle of the bail of the carrier is a rope or cable 84 which passes around a pulley 85 journaled 011 the upper portion of the cross-piece 20 at about its middle and also around another pulley 86 at or near one of the upper corners of the chute, and then over a pulley 87 on one of the sides 18 of the chute and then under a pulley 88 journaled on the same side of the chute as the pulley 87, and then over pulleys 89, 90 and 91 preferably located. on the bottom of the chute at suitable distances from one of its sides. The opposite end of the rope or cable 84 from that which is connected to the bail of the carrier is secured to the drum 48 around which the rope or cable is wound in the operation of moving the carrier upwardly on the chute.

From the foregoing and by reference to the drawings it will be understood and clearly seen that, when the apparatus is intended to be used for loading wagon-bodies or other receptacles, the chute may be adjusted to the proper elevation or inclination so as to permit the wagon to be driven under the upper ortion of the chute, or the other receptacle for the material to be loaded placed under said portion of the chute, when, while the carrier 40 is on the ground or surface on which the material to be loaded. is located, it can be manipulated by means of its handles 77 so as to gather up or scoop manure or other material, after which it may be caused to travel up the chute by means of the rotation of the drum 48, which may be caused by throwing the clutch 50 into engagement with the clutchface 49 on the drum and by starting the en gine 39, which, through the medium of the connections with its shaft 41, will cause the shaft 45 and the drum which it carries to rotate in the proper direction, thereby winding the rope 84 thereon, and as said rope passes over the pulleys 85 and 86 at the top of the chute and a series of other pulleys ournaled on the chute, it is apparent that the carrier 40 will be drawn upwardly until the projections 80 on the bail thereof strike the levers 81 and force them upwardly from the positions indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2 to that indicated by continuous lines in said figure, in which operation the lever 52 will be moved through the instrumentality of the lever 54 and a cord or connection 92, which unites one of the levers 81 to the lever 54, and thus throw the clutch 50 out of engagement with the clutch-face 49 of the drum. As the carrier passes over the top of the floor 17 of the chute and its projections 80 engaging the levers 81, it is apparent that it will be tilted own accord, for it will be understood that as, the clutch 50 has been released from the clutch-face of the drum the latter willbe free to rotate on the shaft 45 to allow the rope 84, which connects it with the carrier-bail, to unwind, the levers 81 and the lever 54 may extend rearwardly to any suitable distance, so that the operatorof the carrier may use the same so as to throw the clutch 50, when desired, into engagement with the clutch-face of the drum. After the wagon shall have been loaded and it is driven from under the upper portion of the chute, it is apparent that by closing the members 27, as shown by continuous lines in Fi 5, a hopper or receptacle will be provided: into which the carrier may dump its loads until a wagon is again placed under the chute to receive the same, when by releasing the cord 31 the members 27 will swing outwardly and discharge the material into the wagon-body. It is manifest that the apparatus is well adapted for excavating ditches, and that when used for this purpose, the operation of causing the carrier to move upwardly on the inclined chute is the same as that just above-described, and it is evident that if it is desired to deposit the loads of the carrier directly into a wagon or other receptacle, the members 27 may be dispensed with from the upper portion of the chute, which may also be done when the apparatus is used simply as a loader, or the members 27 may be used when the apparatus is used for ditching or excavating purposes as a hopper, or may be used as previously set forth to deflect the loads of the carrier to one or both sides of the apparatus. When it is desired to move the machine from one place to another, it is obvious that the engine may be started by means of the lever 73 and its connection 7 4 with the controlling mechanism of the engine, when by moving the lever 71 in the proper direction, one of the gears 66 or 67 will be caused to engage the gear 65 and thus drive the machine in the desired direction.

From the above description of my improvements it will be obvious that the apparatus is susceptible to modification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not desire to be understood as limiting The cord 92 which connects one of myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus herein set forth in carrying out my invention in practice, for example, I have shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings a modification in the manner of supporting the chute, which consists in employing at each side thereof a rearwardly extending bar 10 which is pivoted at its rear end to one side 18 of the chute and has its front end secured to an upright 16 on which is transversely journaleda crank-shaft 21 which extends from one of the uprights 16 to the other. On each side of the chute is also pivotally secured to the lower end thereof another bar 1O each of which is secured at its upper portion to one of the uprights 16 and has at its upper end a pulley 10 over Which is passed a cord 21 which has one of its ends secured to the 'chute and its other end to the crankshaft 21 so that when the latter is turned .in the proper direction the chute may be raised or lowered between the uprights 16 The side bars 10 are pro vided with a platform 10, on which the engine and other operating mechanism may be mounted Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. The combination with a truck, of an inclinable chute mounted thereon above the same, a lever secured to the upper portion of each side of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute and comprising a material-supporting body-portion and a bail pivotally connected to the sides thereof and having at each of its sides a lateral projection, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck and having a clutch-face at one of its ends, a clutch slidably mounted near the clutch face of the drum to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys journaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and bail of the carrier and engaging said pulleys, another connection uniting one of the said levers and the means for operating the clutch, whereby when the drum is rotated in one direction the carrier will be caused to travel upwardly on the inclined chute and the clutch will be disengaged from the drum in said upward movement of the carrier, and means carried by the truck to rotate the drum.

2. The combination with a truck, of an inclinable chute mounted thereon above the same, a lever secured to the upper portion of each side of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute and comprising a ma terial-supporting body-portion and a bail pivotally connected to the sides thereof and.

having at each of its sides a lateral projecof the drum to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys journaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and bail of the carrier and engaging said pulleys, another connection uniting one of the said levers and the means for operating the clutch, whereby when the drum is rotated. in one direction the carrier will be caused to travel upwardly on the inclined chute and the clutch will be disengaged from the drum in said upward movement of the carrier, and means carried by the truck to rotate the drum and to propel the truck in either direction.

3. The combination with a truck, of an inclinable chute mounted thereon above the same, a lever secured to the upper portion of each side of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute and comprising a material-supporting body-portion and a bail pivotally connected to the sides thereof and having at each of its sides a lateral projec tion, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck and having a clutch-face at one of its ends, a clutch slidably mounted near the clutch-face of the drum'to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys journaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and bail of the carrier and engaging said pulleys, whereby when the drum is rotated in one direction the carrier will be caused to travel upwardly on the inclined chute and the clutch will be disen gaged from the drum in said upward movement of the carrier, and means carried by the truck to rotate the drum.

4. The combination with a truck, of a chute inclinably mounted thereon and above the same, means convertible into a hopper or deflector at-the upper end of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute, and means carried by the truck and having connection with the carrier whereby the latter will be caused to travel upwardly on the chute.

5. The combination with a truck, of a chute inclinably mounted thereon and above the same, means convertible into a hopper or deflector on the lower portion of the upper end of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck and having a clutch-face at one of its ends, a clutch movably mounted near the clutch-face of the drum to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys journaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and the carrier, and an engine mounted on the truck to rotate the drum.

6. The combination with a truck, of a chute inclinably mounted thereon and above the same, means convertible into a hopper or deflector on the lower portion of the upper end of the chute, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck and having a clutch-face at one of its ends, a clutch movably mounted near the clutch-face of the drum to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys ournaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and the carrier, and an engine carried by the truck to propel the same and to rotate the drum.

7. The combination with a truck, of a chute inclinably mounted thereon above the same, a lever secured to the upper portion of each side of the chute, means on the lower portion of the upper end of the chute convertible into a hopper or deflector, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute and comprising a material-supporting body-portion and a bail pivotally secured to the sides thereof and having at each of its sides a lateral projection, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck and having a clutch-face at one of its ends, a clutch slidably mounted near the clutchface of the drum to engage the same, means to throw the clutch into and out of engagement with the clutch-face of the drum, a series of pulleys j ournaled on the chute, a con nection uniting the drum and bail of the carrier and engaging said pulleys, whereby when the drum is rotated in one direction the carrier will be caused to travel upwardly on the inclined chute and will be tilted to discharge its load, and means carried by the truck to rotate the drum.

8. The combination with a truck, of a chute inclinably mounted thereon and above the same, a lever secured to the upper portion of each side of the chute, a hopper-member loosely secured to the lower portion of each side of the chute and comprising a curved body-portion having an inwardly eX- tending flange or end-piece at each of its ends, means on and connected to each of said members to draw and secure them together at their lower portions, a carrier adapted to travel on the chute and comprising a materialsupporting body-portion and a bail pivotally connected to the sides thereof and having at each of its sides a lateral projection, a drum rotatably mounted on the truck, means to control the operation of the drum, a series of pulleys journaled on the chute, a connection uniting the drum and bail of the carrier and engaging said pulleys, whereby when the drum is rotated in one direction the carrier will be caused to travel upwardly on the inclined chute and be tilted to discharge its load into the hopper, and means carried by the truck to rotate the drum.

i 9. The combination with a truck, of an inclinable chute pivotally mounted thereon and above the same, a hopper-member loosely secured to the lower portion of each side of the upper part of the chute and comprising a curved body-portion having an inwardly extending flange or end-piece at each of its ends,- and means on and connected to said members to draw and secure them together at their lower portions.

10. The combination with a truck, of an inclinable chute pivotally mounted thereon and above the same, and means convertible into a hopper or deflector detachably secured to the lower portion of the upper part of the chute.

11( The combination with an inclinable chute, of means convertible into a hopper or deflector secured to the lower portion of the upper part thereof.

12. The combination with an inclinable chute, of a hopper-member loosely secured to the lower portion of each side of the upper part of the chute and comprising a body-portion having an inwardly extending flange or end-piece at each of its ends.

13. The combination with an inclinable chute, of a hopper-member loosely secured to the lower portion of each side of the upper part of the chute and comprising a body-portion having an inwardly extending flange or end-piece at each of its ends, and means on and connected to said members to draw and secure them together at their lower portions.

LE GRAND KNIFFEN.

WVitnesses CHAS. C. TILLMAN, M. A. NYMAN. 

